Defending champion Glenrose Xaba will be putting her best foot forward at the Cape Town SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge on Sunday at the start of her campaign to become the fourth runner to win the SPAR Grand Prix three times.
Sixteen-thousand runners will take part in the Cape Town race, which is the first of the five races making up the SPAR Grand Prix series, in which Africa’s elite runners compete for valuable points. The winner of the Grand Prix will take home R200 000. The runner-up will receive R100 000, and the third-placed athlete will win R75 000. This is additional to the substantial prize money for each individual race.
There are additional rewards on offer for South African runners. The South African woman with the most Grand Prix points will receive an additional R100 000, the second placed South African R70 000 and the third placed South African R50 000.
Junior runners will once again be eligible for an overall prize, with the results of three races counting. The top junior will win overall prize money of R10 500 with the results of three races counting.
In 2024, Xaba became the first South African runner to win the Grand Prix since it was opened to international athletes in 2019. She was also the last South African winner, in 2018. The other three-time winners are Rene Kalmer, Irvette van Zyl and Ethiopian Tadu Nare.
“Winning the SPAR Grand Prix has been a dream and a goal that I’ve had for many years,” said Xaba. “And to have won it twice is a career highlight for sure. To be referred to as a defending champion is surreal.
“For South African women, this opens the path again for us to fight to keep winning this series because we are more than capable of doing so.
“I thank SPAR for taking care of women athletes through this series, not only financially but to be able to compete in a women’s only race series is terrific for us women,” she said. “This year, I aim to remain injury free and have a healthy season. I look forward to running the Grand Prix series again and fighting for that top spot.”
Xaba is in good form. She started the year by winning the 10 000m at the AGN Track and Field Championships in 31:56. But she can expect some tough competition in the five races that make up the Grand Prix. Others taking part include Ethiopian runners and former Grand Prix runners-up Diniya Abaraya and Selam Gebre, as well as newcomer Tsihay Gebru, who has a personal best of 32:09.
Exciting news is that Russian born, former Czech runner, Olga Firsova, now registered in Australia, but a permanent South African resident living in Stellenbosch, has entered. Firsova recorded 33.19 in New York last year making her a firm contender for a top ten position on Sunday.
Kenyan athlete Fridah Ndinda will be running her maiden Grand Prix race in Cape Town in the Nedbank colours. The East African athlete ran a career best 32.25 in 2022 and last year in the Gqeberha 10km she clocked 33.18 making her a title contender.
